Bacteria have many methods of adapting to resist antibiotics, but a new class of spiral polypeptides developed at the University of Illinois targets one thing no bacterium can live without: an outer membrane. The polypeptides, which are short protein chains, act as bacterial hole-punchers, perforating the bacterial membrane until the cell falls apart. The antimicrobial agents are dressed for their mission in a positively charged shell that lets them travel in body fluids, protected from interacting with other proteins, and also attracts them to bacterial membranes. Led by U. of I. materials science and engineering professor Jianjun Cheng, the researchers published their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
